Bittersweet
by Miss.PJO
Summary: They were stupid to think their lives would be peaceful and carefree.
1. Chapter 1

The hooded man stood in the center of Camp Half Blood. The stars shone brightly, and no demigods lay awake. He breathed in the cold air. The night seemed so... innocent, and oblivious. Unaware of what was happening at the current moment.

One of his servants came up to him. "Did you do it?" He asked him. He nodded quickly. "Yes milord." "Are you certain it was the right girl?" The servant's eyebrows furrowed. "The pretty one with the braided brown hair? With the photos of her and the boy taped to the wall?" The powerful stranger nodded. "That's the one. Good job... I guess." He confirmed. The servant stood there awkwardly. "I'm going to run some errands." He hastily bowed and disappeared.

He looked around the demigod 'haven'. _Stupid ancient laws._ He wanted to burn this place to the ground right at that moment. But he would have to bide his time. He had to wait. The others were taking _millenia_. Where _were_ they?

Just then another servant walked over, followed by five _arai. Speak of the devil._ He turned to them. "Done?" He asked impatiently. The servant nodded._ All of those you have wished for, my lord._ The voices of the _arai_ hummed together around them. They acted like they hadn't taken ages. He really wanted to strangle them sometimes, but then his wife would lose her shit if he harmed her creation. It would be a win-loss.

The curse spirits flapped in the air. They were making too much noise. "Will you shut up?" He asked them. Almost immediately they floated onto their feet. "They were the right ones, right?" "We were sure of it. One son of -" He interrupted the servant with a wave of his hand. "I don't have to know."

_But, my lord._ He turned to the _arai. One of the heroes, he is very hard to crack. He even survived an encounter with us in Tartarus. His fatal flaw is loyalty._ "Yes, yes. I know of your mishap with the boy. But do not despair, what I have in store for him will utterly break him. He will play right into my hands, and his friends will follow."

His servant looked up at him. "Milord, are you sure it will work? You know what happened last time." He muttered the last part. "Of course it will work!" He snapped, then calmed down. "The Gods' resources are like chain links. Get rid of the strong ones, and the weak will collapse."

"Milord, did you want us to do it on the other two? The girl and the boy?" He mused for a moment. Did he? "I'm still deciding on that. They are strong, those two, the boy stronger. Did you put it on the romans?" _Yes, we did._ "Great. You are dimissed. Good job." They vanished, leaving the man to his thoughts.

He looked up to the sky. "With my perfect plan, the gods will fall. And they won't have their heroes to save them." He thought of doing his signature evil laugh, but couldn't, unfortunately. It would alert the camp of his presence. Sighing, he swirled into a vortex of darkness, planning his uprising.

* * *

><p>Percy had a peaceful sleep. Nightmares of the horrors of Tartarus and Annabeth dying left him alone. Suddenly, he fell into a dream.<p>

He just _had_ to jinx it.

Percy woke in his dream in a fluffy white bed. He sat up and looked down at a note beside him on the pillow. Percy couldn't read it, but his dream-self, who was in movement, seemed to understand. He got out of bed and opened the wardrobe. Inside was a fancy tux, which he found peculiar. He _never_ wore suits. Dream-Percy took out the tux, and the dream shifted.

He stood in the Olympian throne room. The gods stared down at him as he said something, but the dream must've been on mute, because Percy couldn't hear anything. When his mouth finished moving, the gods looked shocked and they just gawked at him, like he had just belched loudly. Zeus stood up and yelled something. Then he saw black.

The scene shifted again. In third person, Percy saw six figures in dark hoods that he couldn't make out the appearances of. They all looked around. A pair of eyes gazed backwards. He saw mud brown eyes, full of mirth and mischief. But they also held brokenness, and sadness. The owner of the eyes said something, but again, Percy couldn't hear anything. Then they all the figures bowed forward to someone out of sight. Then Percy woke up.

* * *

><p>As usual, Leo awoke before the rest of his cabin. Seeing everyone else asleep, he got changed and started playing around with some wire and metal. With his hands moving on their own, he thought about the dream he had.<p>

First he was at the garage he and Calypso dreamed of founding one day. Calypso was singing and tending the garden as he worked in the metalshop. Leo was having the time of his life, surrounded by friends, siblings, even Hepheatus was admiring his handiwork. He absolutely loved it.

Next thing he knew, the image had suddenly changed, like the Fates, or Morpheus, just changed the TV channel. That son of a gun! He _liked_ that dream!

The images had been blurred together, hard to understand, but they had still managed to make Leo anxious.

He had seen a ring buried into the sand at camp's beach. It looked like an engagment ring. It was beautiful, but it was discarded, left there like it was a piece of trash. Leo hadn't the slightest idea what that meant.

He saw Piper fumbling with a photo with Jason by her side as they looked down in confusion. It was a photo of them, and it was torn to pieces. Around them on her bed were almost all of her photos ruined. Maybe someone was jealous? Leo could only imagine Drew doing something like that.

A broken bow on someone's bed. Leo thought it belonged to a Huntress, but he wasn't entirely sure. On the floor arrows lay snapped, and a quiver was covered in knife slashes. Okay, someone might of broken it out of their anger and it was theirs? Leo, again, wasn't sure.

Hazel getting teased. 'Ghost' and 'Witch' was constantly being hurled at her wall of emotions. She was treated like she was invisible. Frank was not happy about it, and Leo would almost feel sorry for the Romans if Percy saw that happening. Almost. If that actually happened, Leo would've happily sent Percy onto their tails like a feral dog if he had the chance.

Then he saw an Archemedies Sphere. _His_ Archemedies Sphere. It was smoking, and a puff of it erupted from it. Leo had looked at it in horror. He had made mistakes with his machinery before, but he had _never_ made that bad a mistake. He had noticed that a big wedge of it had been sliced off. Someone had done it, and they had _meant_ to break it.

But the last image had confused Leo the most. Six figures stood on a hill, looking at something. Leo had freaked out when he saw their eyes and recognised them.

He saw Frank's, which were full of war strategies and duty. Hazel's caring and gentle 14 carat gold eyes. Piper's, full of love. Jason's thunderstorms of seriousness. His, full of mischief - and awesomeness, of course. And finally Percy's absolutely _terrifying_ orbs of sea green. Leo wanted to shit himself whenever Percy fixed him with a glare. His fix-your-fucking-attitude glare, most of the time.

When someone glared at him, he would usually laugh it off. But it was a whole different ball game when _Percy_ sent him a look. His eyes would just have an effect of fear wash over you. The guy had made the bathrooms explode without meaning to. And, also, Leo had heard from Jason, who had heard from Piper, who had heard from Annabeth, that Percy almost turned complete maniac mode in Tartarus and had controlled _poison_. Percy was unpredictable and dangerous, and a complete badass, which was a reason why Leo kept his distance.

_Stupid ADHD!_ He had got off track and rambled on. He looked down at his hands and saw a mini car automation. He put it on his nightstand. He hoped that dream wasn't a glimpse of the future, because he had had enough of prophesies for a life time. He had only been in one, when Percy was involved in, what, seven? Six? How did that guy cope?

Leo kept coming back to one question that kept nagging at his mind. _Why wasn't Annabeth on that hill?_

**Yo guys! Sorry, again, for not updating. I was hiking in the jungle with the ghost of Steve Irwin, looking for snakes. (No joke, guys, I really was, stop laughing at me). Anyway, NEW STORY! And I also have an annoucement to make! *taps glass with fork* So listen up!**

**Firstly, I'm finally deleting that high school story! YAY! No more of "PROBABLY GONNA DELETE THIS." I mean, it was okay, but I was never going to update that. Sorry if you wanted me to, but, I really despised it.**

**Second announcement! Another story will be going home tonight! *gasps from crowd* "Oh my gods!" Shut up! *takes out card from pocket* the story leaving the story list of is... A guy worth fighting for! *more gasps* "omg! No! Not gay Percy!" *even more gasps* SHUT IT!**

**So the reason I'm deleting that story is.. Well, I did a bad job of writing it, and most of the time, I was writing off the top of my head. I never knew what to put there. I was always like, should he go to the pool and the guys race to meet him first? Or should he spend time with Thalia, Grover and Annabeth?**

**So again, I'm sad to put down two of my stories, and I'm sorry if you didn't want me to, but, yeah. Don't kill me.**

**Peace out**


	2. Chapter 2

Piper awoke to the Aphrodite cabin waking and bustling around. Lacy cleaning her glasses, Mitchell combing his hair, Drew glaring in her direction and being a bitch. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Piper looked at the wall next to her bed, where she had taped up photos of her and Jason. After giddily daydreaming, she got up and got dressed, and then assembled her cabin for breakfast. "Line up everyone!" She called. They quickly put down their makeup kits and got into order.

On her way to the dining pallivion she saw Percy, who smiled and waved in her direction. She waved back. Leo grinned at her as he led his cabin in. But something seemed off about them both. Percy's smile seemed.. forced. And Leo's eyes held a hint of worry.

Jason was early, of course, so Piper saw him when she arrived. She wished she could could sit at his table and talk and laugh with him. Then she could avoid her siblings' talk about which celebrities were the hottest and other useless crap.

She went up to sacrifice some of her french toast. Percy was infront of her. He scraped off some of his blue waffles into the fire. "Poseidon..." He seemed to think for a moment. Then he scraped off twice as much waffle. "... and Hestia." The smell of a salty breeze and barbecue filled the air around him. Percy took a big whiff of it. "That's some really good stuff Aunty." He muttered under his breath. Then he returned to his table and ate his remaining waffles.** (yep, because Hestia's that awesome)**

_Okay then.._ Piper thought. She threw in a piece of toast. "Aphrodite, I guess." A rose scent reached her nostrils. It was nice, but she would've still preferred the sea or barbecue. Aphrodite was the only immortal she'd had a proper conversation with. Plus, it _was_ her mom.

As she ate her breakfast, Leo turned to her from his table.** (I don't care if the tables aren't next to each other)** "Piper." "Yeah?" "I heard some of the Romans are visiting soon." "Oh," (She for once was completely non-sarcastic about her enthusiasm when talking to Leo). "Who's coming? And when?" "Reyna, Dakota, some randoms, Frazel." Piper was confused. "Frazel?" Leo rolled his eyes. "Gods, Piper, don't you listen to your siblings? Hazel and Frank! It's their couple name."

Then Piper snorted at something she thought about. Leo looked at her weirdly. "Piper, I know that I'm really funny, but why are you laughing?" Piper giggled again. "You know how Percy thinks that Frank and Hazel make the cutest couple?" He nodded. "I just imagined him wearing an I LOVE FRAZEL shirt and holding a flag." **(What? You haven't either? Dang it).** Leo looked at her weirdly, again. "Right, whatever you say, Piper. I _totally_ imagine Percy like that too."

Piper knew Leo wasn't talking about the 'Frazel' topic. He was talking about how _he_ saw Percy. "For Gods' sake, Leo. Can you drop that already?" "Drop what?" Piper narrowed her eyes at him. Leo sighed. "I just can't not feel on-guard around him. I feel like if I say one wrong thing he'll feed me to his brothers - sharks and Cyclopes."

Piper was shocked at his words. "Leo!" "What? The shark thing is probably true. Gods are strange." "Why do you hate him so much? He hasn't done anything to you. He's a really nice guy." Leo turned to her. "Are you falling for him too now?" Then he muttered under his breath: "Wow, just like everybody else." Piper smacked his arm, hard.

"Listen, Leo. I know you don't hate Percy. You want to, though. You resent him because you think he's a flashy hero who always gets the spotlight. But I'm pretty sure he doesn't even _like_ the spotlight. Neither does Jason." Leo rubbed his arm, where a bruise was forming. "And if you think I'm wrong, maybe you should actually _talk_ to him about it."

* * *

><p>Chiron trotted into the centre of the dining area. "Campers!" Everyone looked up from their breakfast. "The Romans will be arriving this evening, and we will be sharing cabins." Some cheers erupted, while others grumbled under their breath. The rest kept neutral expressions.<p>

Jason was excited for the Romans' arrival. He traced his tattoo. _12 bars..._ 12 years of service in the legion.

"Would you like to add anything, Mr.D?" Chiron asked the returned Wine God. "Ah, yes. The Romans are arriving. Hurrah for that, then." He said, absorbed into his wine magazine.

Jason had expected Mr.D to show _some_ enthusiasm about the Romans. He had his own awesome garden in Camp Jupiter, after all. The Romans respected him a fair bit.

Jason would've gladly lived in either camp as long as Piper was by his side. But if he could chose, though, he most likely would've picked the Greeks. The Romans were so serious. They admired loyalty and duty. Jason had needed a break from it all, and Camp Half-Blood had given him that. He wasn't ready to let that go yet.

Jason could also see why Percy seemed to favour Camp Jupiter, too. The Romans adored him. He was everything a roman legionnaire would want to be. Percy also liked the idea of settling down in New Rome, with Annabeth, and becoming a veteran soilder. Lucky him, being able to retire.

* * *

><p>"Hazel! Frank!" Percy ran up and wrapped them into a bear hug. "Hey Percy." Frank said, grinning. Hazel smiled. Percy was like an older brother to her. "Hello Percy." She greeted. As always, Percy smelt like the sea.<p>

Percy draped an arm around her and Frank's shoulders and steered them towards camp. "So, what how you been, Praetor Zhang and Centurion Levesque?" Frank's ears turned red. "Don't call me that. Please."

Percy sighed. "You're too modest, Frank." Frank turned towards him, as if saying: _Seriously?_ "No, _you're_ too modest, Percy. You can't talk."

Hazel took her chance to cut into the conversation. "Boys! Stop arguing!" Percy smirked. "Yes ma'am."


	3. Chapter 3

"And then Bob came." Percy explained to Hazel, who listened intently. "Who's Bob?" She asked gently. Percy slumped his shoulders from where he sat next to Hazel on his bed. Everyone else was outside, and everyone knew to not disturb their little consolation sessions.

"Do you know Thalia?" Hazel nodded, but she didn't know why he asked. "Well once me, Nico, and Thalia went to the underworld for a little quest we had to do. When we were there, we came across a Titan. We fought him aside the River Lethe, and then he was exposed to the water. He lost all his memory, and I told him he was our friend and his name was Bob. He became a janitor for Hades."

After explaining, Percy resumed the story. "So Bob came. He saved our lives and he healed our wounds. He led us to a temporary shelter." "That was nice of him." Hazel commented. Percy nodded in agreement.

Percy was about to tell Hazel about the _arai_ attack when his door was knocked. Percy sighed deeply. "Come in." The door opened and Frank walked in. "Uh, sorry to interrupt the, uh, _thing_, but Chiron wants you to teach a sword fighting session at the arena in five." Percy stood up. "Thanks Frank." He walked out after waving to them.

Hazel got up off Percy's bunk and hugged Frank. Frank hugged back. Hazel sighed. "It's so bad about what happened to Percy down there." "I know. And out of all the people it could've happened to, it happened to him." They stood there, hugging, in a comfortable silence. "Come on, let's get out of here before Neptune gets mad at us."

* * *

><p>Hazel watched Frank hit the bullseye, again. She tried to focus her mind on something, but her thoughts kept wandering back to one topic: Tartarus. How had Percy not gone insane? Annabeth had slight effects of it, but Percy always kept himself controlled.<p>

And Hazel kept wandering to one conclusion: It would suck to have the life of Percy Jackson.

She saw him in the arena, conducting his class like a professional, which Hazel guessed he kind of was, in a way. He disarmed each and everyone who challenged him with ease. Percy said something to his students, and the sweaty campers rushed over to the water cooler.

He came over and his large frame sat down next to her. He gave a genuine smile and wiped the sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand. They sat in comfortable silence, until a boy that looked about 17 came over.

"Hazel, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine." Percy said. Hazel turned to him and the boy. "This is Max, he's a son of Apollo and a good fighter." Hazel waved. "Hello," she greeted. Max grinned back. "Hey, you must be Hazel Levesque? Hero of the prophecy?" Hazel gazed at him. "Yeah..." "Awesome! You guys are so cool, you know? With explosions and fighting Giants and everything!" Max was reminding Hazel of Leo - a little kid trapped in a teenager's body.

"Max," Percy said, "you're overwhelming her." Max smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. Anyway, I'll see you later!" He ran off towards his cabin.

"So what do you think?" Percy asked her. "About Max?" Percy nodded. "He's alot like Leo. Very excitable and random." Percy grinned. "I thought that too. But he's a really nice guy. He's turning 17 soon." "He doesn't act like it." Hazel commented. Percy laughed. "Like me."

Hazel agreed with his comment.

* * *

><p>Hazel stabbed another piece of fish with her fork. She popped it into her mouth and was overwhelmed with the amount of flavour (again). The fish was cooked perfectly and the amount of seasoning was just right.<p>

Nico was absent from camp, but Hazel wasn't fazed nor suprised. Nico always seemed to be doings things for their father, and he was constantly visiting him in the underworld.

She spotted the son of Apollo, Max. He was looking at something. Hazel followed his gaze and realised that was staring at Annabeth, rather.. _hungrily_.

Hazel might've been wrong, but last time she checked people didn't really look at others like that without having feelings for them. At least not in the 1940's.

It was creepy.

Hazel tapped Percy on his shoulder. He turned around. "Yeah?" She nodded her head in the direction of Max. Percy spotted him and what he was looking at, and his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Hazel raised an eyebrow at him. "I may not be a daughter of Venus, Percy, but I think Max fancies Annabeth."

Percy shook his head. "I highly doubt it." Hazel raised her eyebrow further. "How long have you known Max?" "A couple weeks." Percy responded. Hazel narrowed her eyes towards the son of the sun god. "There's something off about him. I smell a rat."

"Hazel, Max is a nice guy. He wouldn't do something like steal someone's girlfriend." Percy reasoned. Hazel looked at Percy, then back to Max. "I don't know... Just keep an eye on him." "What are we, spies?" Hazel glared at him. "Fine. I'll keep an eye on him."

* * *

><p><strong>(A few days later)<strong>

Percy spotted Max on the way to his cabin. He seemed to be excited for something. "Hey Max!" Max smiled at him. "Hey Percy." "Why do you look so excited?" Percy asked. "Oh, I'm meeting someone." Percy decided that if he looked this rushed, he should leave him to it. "Well I'll see you later." He farewelled. Max waved and continued on his way.

* * *

><p>The hooded man stared into a dark sphere that depicted Percy Jackson. "The plan is going quite well.." He mused to himself. "..Although.." He swiped his hand and the image formed the face of Leo Valdez. "This doesn't seem to be a very strong friendship." He drummed his fingers against the cold marble frame that surrounded the globe.<p>

"That won't do.."

He muttered something that sounded ancient and powerful, something that should've be left alone. But the man liked taking risks, so he chanted it anyway.

Moments later a look of confusion appeared on the son of Hepheastus. Then it changed to realisation and thoughtfulness. Then he smiled.

Pleased with his sneakiness, the man clicked his fingers and the globe went dark.

"That's more like it."


End file.
